PPI Motorsports
 |
|
| Owner(s) | Cal Wells |
|---|---|
| Base | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Series | Nextel Cup Series |
| Car numbers | 32, 96, 97 |
| Race drivers | Ricky Craven, Travis Kvapil, Andy Houston, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Scott Pruett, Ron Fellows |
| Sponsors | Tide, McDonald's |
| Manufacturer | Ford, Pontiac, Chevrolet |
| Opened | 1979 |
| Closed | 2006 |
| Career | |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 2 |
PPI Motorsports was a race team which competed in CART, NASCAR, and various off-road racing circuits. The team had one of the few remaining single car operations in NASCAR.
PPI stood for Precision Preparation, Inc., a company founded by team owner Cal Wells in 1979. The company originally provided parts for off-road racing teams. Over time, PPI eventually began its own off-road team, with help with Toyota Motorsports. PPI fielded off-road trucks for Mickey Thompson's SCORE series and then later fielded trucks which competed in outdoor events such as the Baja 1000. Notable drivers for PPI include Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and a young Robby Gordon (who also drove in CART for the team in 1998).
PPI's relationship with Toyota expanded into the open-wheel ranks in 1995, when Wells formed a CART team with good friend Frank Arciero. Their initial driver was Hiro Matsushita. Known as Arciero-Wells, the CART team lasted for 5 years but only a managed a best finish of 4th in 1999 with rookie Cristiano da Matta. In 1996, they began the CART season with Jeff Krosnoff driving, but he died in a tragic accident during the Toronto street race. All PPI cars carried a decal commemorating Krosnoff's memory. After Arciero left in 2000, the team was rebranded as PPI Motorsports, and da Matta gave the team its first (and only) career victory in CART. During this time, the team also ran a program in the Toyota Atlantic series, and had success in 2000 with rookie of the year Dan Wheldon. Following the 2000 season, however, PPI shut down its open-wheel and off-road programs, ended its relationship with Toyota, and shifted its focus exclusively on NASCAR.
PPI also competed in Toyota Atlantic from 1998-2000, winning races with Anthony Lazzaro, Andrew Bordin, and Dan Wheldon. Lazzaro won the championship for the team in 1999.
...
Wikipedia